Enough is Enough
by Over.Thinking.Daily.Life
Summary: ONESHOT. They have saved the world. Defeated a Goddess. Freed the Bijuu. And- Seriously, Sasuke? Right now? In which Sakura is done with Sasuke, done with Konoha, done with everything. Oneshot ficlette that popped into my head after finishing the manga.


They had survived.

Somehow they had survived.

They had survived and saved the world. Beaten the Goddess-demon, mother of chakra and sealed her away for ever. The world was safe. The bijuu were free. Obito was at peace. The founders of Konoha had settled their differences and were once more friends. They were in the presence of the Sage of the Six Paths and had learned how to undo the horrible genjutsu that had enslaved everyone in the world. Life would resume, everyone would return and-

"Oh fuck it." Sakura sighed and slumped to the ground.

"What… did Sasuke say?" Kakashi asked, disbelief coloring his voice. Sakura spared him a glance and then shook her head.

She was done.

"Are you honestly surprised, Kakashi-sensei?" She asked. Her voice sounded strange in her ears, light and almost giddy. Her chakra was all but exhausted. Her perceptions of the world all but shattered. It was nice, in a way, to see that Sasuke stayed constant.

The ground shattered. The bijuu were imprisoned. Naruto shouted. Sasuke dripped with contempt. Sakura began humming to herself as she inspected her nails. Maybe she should try growing them out.

"Sakura?" Kakashi whispered. He had collapsed in a doomed effort to reach his most wayward student. No surprise there. They had all been running on the last of their chakra fumes even before they were pulled into a dimension hopping battle against a goddess. Using the sharigen had drained the last of Kakashi's.

They were all waiting for her to say something, she realized. This was the moment for her to make an elaborate and tearful speech. To proclaim her doomed love once more. To hope that this time, for the first time, might make Sasuke think about someone other than Naruto. It would be dramatic. Heartwarming. She would probably end up knocked out as extra fuel for Naruto's mission.

Pity she just didn't care anymore.

"Have fun!" She gave a little wave with an insincere smile.

Sasuke looked at her. Naruto looked at her. Sakura went back to scrapping the dirt out from under her nails.

"Uh, you are all part of my past now." It was hard, apparently, to regain your dramatic dialoguing when the other person wasn't participating. Sakura didn't care. Didn't look up as he vanished over the broken horizon.

"Sakura chan," Naruto was clearly torn between wondering what was wrong with her and chasing after Sasuke. Idiot. Like Sasuke wouldn't be waiting right around the next curve to make sure Naruto was chasing after him. "Don't chase after us-"

"Wasn't going to."

"I don't want you to get hurt."

She grinned and saluted him, "Good to know!"

With one last confused look behind him, he also vanished. Now it was just her, Kakashi, and the Sage of the Six Paths. She turned to consider the old man.

"So, can you undo the Mugentsukuyomi Jutsu by yourself?"

The man/god/whatever was beginning to look a little hazy around the edges. He shook his head, but vanished before he could give her a more complete answer. Not that she needed one. Of course it would be Naruto and Sasuke who saved the world. Of course it could only be them.

"Sakura… are you?"

"I'm fine Kakashi," She smiled down at him, "Wonderful actually. I feel… free. I don't know. Like this huge burden was lifted off my shoulders."

"What?"

Sakura struggled to put the feeling into words, "Like, all this time, it has always been the two of them right? Sasuke- last of the Uchihas. Naruto- mysterious carrier of the nine tails. Kakashi- genius jonin with a tortured past. And me. Sakura- who?" She shrugged and laughed helplessly. After a moment, she realized there were tears streaming down her face and that her laugh had devolved to gentle sobs.

"They were always in front of me, you know? Better jutsu, more chakra, more history and story and character and-" She took a deep breath and wiped at her cheeks with the backs of her hands. "I was always trailing behind them. Always trying to catch up. But no matter what I did- the medical training, my strength, my chakra storage- I never actually helped, did I?"

"You punched a god," Kakashi said.

"Yeah. I guess I did." She smiled down at her fist, "And that saved us, what? 30 seconds? I was never really a player in your genius tactics was I?"

She took a deep breath and shook her head. "I don't blame you Kakashi- for abandoning me in your teaching. I've made my peace with it. You had a lot on your plate- the last of the Uchihas and the nine tails. I didn't have any blood line limits or family jutsus. I didn't need any special training outside of what any academy instructor could have given. You had to prioritize.

"It's funny though," She continued, "that you'll be Hokage when they finally wear themselves out enough to think about other people. I mean, you have experience and people know you. But they also know me and I, unlike you, have been Tsunade-sama's right hand for the past three years. And that's the thing, isn't it?"

She pushed herself slowly to her feet, muscles protesting and joints aching. "I was always trailing after them, falling further and further behind. Thinking I was failing, but really," She reached her hands up, fingers spread and smiled at the sky, "But really, there are hundreds of other paths that I could race along as fast as I want. I don't have to choose to always follow them."

Kakashi's eyes widened, "Sakura, what about Sasuke?"

"What about him?"

"You love him."

Sakura laughed and her laugh was less free. "No. No I really don't. I loved the idea of him. I loved competing with Ino over him. I loved having something to love, but him? He doesn't care about me, doesn't acknowledge me. If I confessed to him, right then as he was leaving- do you think he would have listened or said something hurtful? Possibly hurt me? If they do finally work out their aggression, release the jutsu, and return to the village, do you think that he would settle down to work something out with me? Or would he leave me, again, with vague promises?

"I don't want to be a housewife," She muttered. "No. There are plenty of girls who would be happy to ensure the continuation of the Uchiha clan. That sensor of his, for one."

"But Naruto-"

"Naruto has an entire villiage- no an entire shinobi world in love with him. Hinita finally confessed her love. Sasuke will be beaten down and be his soul mate. He has all the bonds he could want and," She added with a sad smile. "I haven't been the best friend to him, have I?"

"They could be hurt-" Kakashi was struggling to pull himself to his knees.

"Kakashi-sensei, do you really expect me to believe in all the years that you have been a jonin that you have never learned any first aid? They are both too exhausted to do much damage."

"A shinobi who deserts her comrades is worse than trash!" He was panting now. Consciousness no doubt lapping at the corners of his vision. He really shouldn't be pushing himself further. Sakura crouched down just outside his range and tilted her head.

"Oh Kakashi- I'm not abandoning them. I'm going out for training. Or have been kidnapped. Or need to be on the run from some mysterious ninjas for three years." She laughed. It wasn't a pleasant sound, "Or do those now count as being abandoned since I'm not a destined reincarnation of some mythical being?"

She stood. "No, if that was true, Kakashi, you wouldn't be able to forgive Sasuke, and I know you already have. So tell them whatever you like, but I'm done."

"Where," He looked dazed. To be fair, this was the most she had ever spoken to him, "Where will you go?"

"No idea." She shrugged, "There is a whole world to be rebuilt. Some village will need a competent healer."

"Sakura-"

"Goodbye, Kakashi sensei-" She tapped a spark of medical jutsu into his forehead and caught him as he collapsed. That would keep him out until morning at least when he would have gained enough chakra to begin recovery.

Smiling, once more, she stepped out into the strange, new world feeling free at last.

A/N: A one shot that popped into my head as I finally finished the Naruto manga. A little preachy, but it touches on some of my issues with Sakura in the entire show. Naruto and Sasuke's teammate could have been really awesome and amazing. Sakura herself could have been something special. It's a pity it didn't turn out that way.


End file.
